Liza Minnelli made an appearance in a New York divorce court, where her lawyer complained that the entertainer's husband, David Gest, was avoiding pre-trial examination by hiding in Hawaii.

Minnelli's lawyer, Frederic Siegel, noted that Gest had filed two legal actions against the star - a petition for divorce and a lawsuit in which he alleged she beat him so badly that he suffered permanent injuries.

"Either he should come here and be deposed or withdraw his actions," Siegel said.

Gest's lawyer, Raoul Felder, said his client was in Hawaii having physical therapy and could not fly. Felder also suggested that Siegel wanted Gest's medical information to defend Minnelli in the $10m (£5.6m) civil assault case Gest filed against her. Minnelli is also suing Gest, claiming he stole money from her.

State Supreme Court Justice John Stackhouse welcomed Minnelli, 57, to his courtroom yesterday. He said that, after she signed some forms, she could leave or stay.

She left and refused to comment as she departed. Minnelli and Gest married in March 2002 and separated last July.

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A New York doctor accused of forcing ailing ex-Beatle George Harrison into signing a guitar has offered to donate the instrument to charity.

A lawyer for Harrison's relatives rejected Dr Gilbert Lederman's offer as "spin" and said they would not drop a lawsuit against the Staten Island cancer specialist, who treated Harrison.

The lawsuit filed on Tuesday accuses Dr Lederman of holding Harrison's hand and forcing him to sign the physician's son's guitar over the weakened musician's protestations. The ex-Beatle died at 58 in November 2001, about two weeks after the signing.

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Harrison Ford's divorce from his wife of 18 years, screenwriter Melissa Mathison Ford, is final.

Papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday did not detail the divorce settlement or custody arrangements for the couple's son and daughter.